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McGaw IJ, Ebrahim RA. Cardiovascular physiology of decapod crustaceans: from scientific inquiry to practical applications. J Exp Biol 2024; 227:jeb247456. [PMID: 39036825 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.247456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/23/2024]
Abstract
Until recently, the decapod crustacean heart was regarded as a simple, single ventricle, contraction of which forces haemolymph out into seven arteries. Differential tissue perfusion is achieved by contraction and relaxation of valves at the base of each artery. In this Review, we discuss recent work that has shown that the heart is bifurcated by muscular sheets that may effectively divide the single ventricle into 'chambers'. Preliminary research shows that these chambers may contract differentially; whether this enables selective tissue perfusion remains to be seen. Crustaceans are unusual in that they can stop their heart for extended periods. These periods of cardiac arrest can become remarkably rhythmic, accounting for a significant portion of the cardiac repertoire. As we discuss in this Review, in crustaceans, changes in heart rate have been used extensively as a measurement of stress and metabolism. We suggest that the periods of cardiac pausing should also be quantified in this context. In the past three decades, an exponential increase in crustacean aquaculture has occurred and heart rate (and changes thereof) is being used to understand the stress responses of farmed crustaceans, as well as providing an indicator of disease progression. Furthermore, as summarized in this Review, heart rate is now being used as an effective indicator of humane methods to anaesthetize, stun or euthanize crustaceans destined for the table or for use in scientific research. We believe that incorporation of new biomedical technology and new animal welfare policies will guide future research directions in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iain J McGaw
- Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 0 Marine Lab Road, St John's, NL, Canada, A1B 0C4
| | - Rahana A Ebrahim
- Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 0 Marine Lab Road, St John's, NL, Canada, A1B 0C4
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Pérez-Schuster V, Salomón L, Bengochea M, Basnak MA, Velázquez Duarte F, Hermitte G, Berón de Astrada M. Threatening stimuli elicit a sequential cardiac pattern in arthropods. iScience 2024; 27:108672. [PMID: 38261947 PMCID: PMC10797191 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Revised: 10/11/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2024] Open
Abstract
In order to cope with the challenges of living in dynamic environments, animals rapidly adjust their behaviors in coordination with different physiological responses. Here, we studied whether threatening visual stimuli evoke different heart rate patterns in arthropods and whether these patterns are related with defensive behaviors. We identified two sequential phases of crab's cardiac response that occur with a similar timescale to that of the motor arrest and later escape response. The first phase was modulated by low salience stimuli and persisted throughout spaced stimulus presentation. The second phase was modulated by high-contrast stimuli and reduced by repetitive stimulus presentation. The overall correspondence between cardiac and motor responses suggests that the first cardiac response phase might be related to motor arrest while the second to the escape response. We show that in the face of threat arthropods coordinate their behavior and cardiac activity in a rapid and flexible manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Verónica Pérez-Schuster
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología y Biología Molecular y Celular, Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional (iB3), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, Buenos Aires C1425FQB, Argentina
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Física, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Lucca Salomón
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología y Biología Molecular y Celular, Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional (iB3), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mercedes Bengochea
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología y Biología Molecular y Celular, Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional (iB3), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Melanie Ailín Basnak
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología y Biología Molecular y Celular, Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional (iB3), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Francisco Velázquez Duarte
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología y Biología Molecular y Celular, Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional (iB3), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gabriela Hermitte
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología y Biología Molecular y Celular, Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional (iB3), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Martín Berón de Astrada
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Fisiología y Biología Molecular y Celular, Instituto de Biociencias, Biotecnología y Biología Traslacional (iB3), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz 2290, Buenos Aires C1425FQB, Argentina
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McGaw IJ, Nancollas SJ. Patterns of heart rate and cardiac pausing in unrestrained resting decapod crustaceans. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART 2021; 335:678-690. [PMID: 34343417 DOI: 10.1002/jez.2533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Revised: 05/27/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Measurement of heart rate (HR) has been used as an important physiological indicator in a broad range of taxa. In the present study HR patterns were measured in five species of unrestrained, resting decapod crustaceans. In addition to variation in HR among individuals, it was also very variable within an individual animal. While some of this variation was related to activity, there was also a non-locomotory component. Unstressed, resting crabs exhibited intermittent heart activity, whereas HR in stressed crabs was more stable, suggesting differential control of HR in resting crabs. Once the animals settled in the experimental apparatus they exhibited regular and extended cardiac pauses (acardia) of 15-300-s duration. As with HR, there was a significant variation in the frequency and length of acardic events, which were only observed in inactive crabs. Regaining of HR, following a period of acardia, was characterized by small adjustments in position and movement of the mouthparts. This rhythmic pattern, and the fact that entry into and out of acardia was not instantaneous, suggested that these events were related to release of neurohormones and their subsequent degradation in the system, rather than direct neural control of the heart. Because HR was variable and interrupted by regular periods of acardia, caution is recommended when calculating baseline levels of HR, or using HR alone as an indicator of physiological stress. Incorporating a coefficient of variation for HR and/or measuring the periods of acardia may be a more reliable indicator of physiological stress in decapod crustaceans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iain J McGaw
- Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University, St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.,Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, Bamfield, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Sarah J Nancollas
- Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University, St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
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Basnak MA, Pérez-Schuster V, Hermitte G, Berón de Astrada M. Polarized object detection in crabs: a two-channel system. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2018; 221:jeb.173369. [PMID: 29650753 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.173369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2017] [Accepted: 04/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Many animal species take advantage of polarization vision for vital tasks such as orientation, communication and contrast enhancement. Previous studies have suggested that decapod crustaceans use a two-channel polarization system for contrast enhancement. Here, we characterize the polarization contrast sensitivity in a grapsid crab. We estimated the polarization contrast sensitivity of the animals by quantifying both their escape response and changes in heart rate when presented with polarized motion stimuli. The motion stimulus consisted of an expanding disk with an 82 deg polarization difference between the object and the background. More than 90% of animals responded by freezing or trying to avoid the polarized stimulus. In addition, we co-rotated the electric vector (e-vector) orientation of the light from the object and background by increments of 30 deg and found that the animals' escape response varied periodically with a 90 deg period. Maximum escape responses were obtained for object and background e-vectors near the vertical and horizontal orientations. Changes in cardiac response showed parallel results but also a minimum response when e-vectors of object and background were shifted by 45 deg with respect to the maxima. These results are consistent with an orthogonal receptor arrangement for the detection of polarized light, in which two channels are aligned with the vertical and horizontal orientations. It has been hypothesized that animals with object-based polarization vision rely on a two-channel detection system analogous to that of color processing in dichromats. Our results, obtained by systematically varying the e-vectors of object and background, provide strong empirical support for this theoretical model of polarized object detection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Ailín Basnak
- Laboratorio de Neurobiología de la Memoria, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, FCEyN, Universidad de Buenos Aires, IFIBYNE-CONICET, Buenos Aires, 1428, Argentina.,Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Verónica Pérez-Schuster
- Laboratorio de Neurobiología de la Memoria, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, FCEyN, Universidad de Buenos Aires, IFIBYNE-CONICET, Buenos Aires, 1428, Argentina.,Departamento de Física, FCEyN, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, 1428, Argentina
| | - Gabriela Hermitte
- Laboratorio de Neurobiología de la Memoria, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, FCEyN, Universidad de Buenos Aires, IFIBYNE-CONICET, Buenos Aires, 1428, Argentina
| | - Martín Berón de Astrada
- Laboratorio de Neurobiología de la Memoria, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, FCEyN, Universidad de Buenos Aires, IFIBYNE-CONICET, Buenos Aires, 1428, Argentina
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Canero EM, Hermitte G. New evidence on an old question: is the "fight or flight" stage present in the cardiac and respiratory regulation of decapod crustaceans? ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014; 108:174-86. [PMID: 25237011 DOI: 10.1016/j.jphysparis.2014.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2014] [Revised: 06/12/2014] [Accepted: 07/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The ability to stay alert to subtle changes in the environment and to freeze, fight or flight in the presence of predators requires integrating sensory information as well as triggering motor output to target tissues, both of which are associated with the autonomic nervous system. These reactions, which are commonly related to vertebrates, are the fundamental physiological responses that allow an animal to survive danger. The circulatory activity in vertebrates changes in opposite phases. The stage where circulatory activity is high is termed the "fight or flight stage", while the stage where circulatory activity slows down is termed the "rest and digest stage". It may be assumed that highly evolved invertebrates possess a comparable response system as they also require rapid cardiovascular and respiratory regulation to be primed when necessary. However, in invertebrates, the body plan may have developed such a system very differently. Since this topic is insufficiently studied, it is necessary to extend studies for a comparative analysis. In the present review, we use our own experimental results obtained in the crab Neohelice granulata and both older and newer findings obtained by other authors in decapod crustaceans as well as in other invertebrates, to compare the pattern of change in circulatory activity, especially in the "fight or flight" stage. We conclude that the main features of neuroautonomic regulation of the cardiac function were already present early in evolution, at least in highly evolved invertebrates, although conspicuous differences are also evident.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eliana M Canero
- Laboratorio de Neurobiología de la Memoria, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, IFIBYNE-CONICET, Argentina
| | - Gabriela Hermitte
- Laboratorio de Neurobiología de la Memoria, Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, IFIBYNE-CONICET, Argentina.
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